


A Rumblastic Journey

by blurrbug



Series: ● THE FINAL DESTINATION ● [2]
Category: Kirby - All Media Types, Metroid Series, Super Smash Brothers, 光神話 | Kid Icarus (Video Games)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Injury, Canon Backstory, Curses, Gen, Interplanetary Travel, Original Mythology, Rescue Missions, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Team Up, Temporary Character Death, World of Light (Super Smash Brothers)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2020-06-24 07:43:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19719238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blurrbug/pseuds/blurrbug
Summary: When Skyworld falls against an unknown enemy and the Goddess of Light simply vanishes, the chosen angel Pit is captured and led to a place completely far away from his homeworld. Now, with a blink of determination, he needs to join forces with a mysterious bounty hunter, a legendary galactic slayer and a lost cause of hope to retrieve his home and potentially save the entire universe from being annihilated by a mysterious yet very, very familiar evil.





	1. The Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome! It's the Final Destination universe, an long SSB and related franchises AU! The series passes after the events of World of Light, from Ultimate, rebooting the universe and redoing many worlds again.
> 
> Because of this, while everything may seem equal to canon, there are slight differences. For this fic, the main three franchises are set after Kid Icarus Uprising, Kirby Planet Robobot and for the Metroid series the timeline is left ambiguous but completely understandable for the basics of characters. 
> 
> Warning for major spoilers from World of Light and the tagged series. Also for angst and violence.
> 
> Any questions about can be send on my tumblr @/sunninoir
> 
> Thank you for reading, and enjoy the fic!

* * *

The Elder Gods.

By definition, they are ethereal beings created by time itself. Giants of maximum power flowing along in the depts of the universe. They are the creators, as they are the destroyers. It's the most logical choice to believe and not to doubt, as they are the ones who always bring the pain, but never feel it. Nor pain, neither sadness or envy. Emotions are traits reserved only to mortals and outers, not gods. Never the gods. It’s a foolish, mortal little thing, not a divine trait. Belief, and don't dare to deny. It's one of the many unspoken rules of the universe. Gods don't feel pain. Gods feel nothing.

Except they do, and when they do, worlds crumbles. The existence breaks a fragment of itself when a god collapses, leaving the rest to suffer along with the loss.

So, as the cold wind blows in the middle of the night, a cry light-years away can be heard in high-pitched despair to the farthest human ears inland somewhere, anywhere, because it's a warning of death with no face and no sign, only the bitter metallic taste at the top of the mouth and a weird feeling bubbling under their chest. As bad as can sound, it is better to remain in oblivion over the truth, blessed for not feeling the pain a god has to endure throughout a lifetime.

And, under the same silence, Skyworld was falling.

The profane invasion only brought destruction and pillage, profaning the Temple of Light and leaving a mark of desolation all across the Palace in the Sky. What once was a relic now was a ruin. Burning embers along with the scarlet blood destroying the core of an ancient heart, silencing itself along with the fire of heavens in irreparable damage. The hearts of the saints corrupted by tragedy watching as they leave nothing behind, and in the depts of the light, a cry could be heard.

This was the end.

One end, at least.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**The Fall**

* * *

Amidst the glimmering yellow flames, there was a single frame of green flushing alongside the heat. A goddess, the holy divinity of Skyworld standing alone as her loyal angels now laid bloody and lifeless on the ground around her. Her grip over her staff was strong as she held one last charge of power pointed at the enemy threatened coming forward. Her features remained still, even with the waves of tears flowing down her cheeks with her eyes staring the silhouettes rounding under the shadows. It truly hurts to know the fate and to know it is predestined to happen regardless of what the future can hold. Her fate was predestined, she had no choice in the matter. She could feel such dread coming closer ever since she first had the first glimpse of life and she could do nothing to change.

It was destiny, a very destructive one, but in the end, the light had its ways, and as the Goddess of Light, she wouldn't allow any more suffering against the ones protected by her power. For the Deity’s objective to be reached and time to keep moving, everything was a necessary sacrifice. For that, she had a ray of hope, a little scheme. A sneaky plan in such tragedy suits her whole life very well indeed. But there was a shade of hesitance, something that needed to impulse her actions.

The screaming coming from above was the final seal to her decision. A single angel descended from the skies, seeking for her beneath the chaos and destruction ahead of him. A scream filled their lungs, praying for the goddess's name, calling with truthful worry deep in their voice. The dim energy holding the flying ability was dying and they became hopeless, wings flapping to catch the air as they entered the area.

They had one last glimpse of each other, a singular moment where both looked at each other's eyes. And with that, she smiled, feeling her force giving in. He was only able to watch as a mist of hands crawled through the goddess's divine dress, ripping shadows overtaking her image as she invocated one last light and aiming at him solely, sending him far away from her and the world around her.

Then, nothing.

Pit had one mission, and he was now miles away from her. Just an eye blink and now he was waking up staring at dark skies of smoke and ash. It was hard to breathe; it was harder to see. With burning red eyes and chest ache, he’d felt like the entire weight of the world was upon his shoulders all at once. His clothes were ripped from battling minions, and his wings slightly scorched from the fire. The angel quickly understood the situation, even if he didn't want to.

"Lady Palutena?" He tried, but no answer came. "L-Lady Palutena!"

The angel gulped and shut his eyes again, feeling a heavy bum inside his fermented soul. If only he had arrived sooner or realized what was wrong before. This was all his fault. With a heavy chest, he tried to breathe in again to focus on an escape, but it was too much pain to bear.

His weapon was laying untouched by his side, resonating with his energy with a clear call for a fight. But to get the hybrid blade them and go back to the fight would be a death sentence. The desolation around him, the blood painting the land as red burned angel feathers were flowing alongside the wind, he just couldn't. Hot. Suffocating. Blinding. Pit was strong, but not enough to face that.

He didn't understand why. He had no idea why. But no, this couldn't be the end either. This could not. His mind was numbing in guilt, muffling his cries with throbbing hands now pressing against the mud. He closed his eyes, feeling the fatigue take with the only thought stuck inside his soul being the claim that it was his fault, _his fault, his fault, his fault, his fault, his fault—_

“Pit.”

Voices filled the void. Inaudible whispers muffled inside his conscience. The Temple was gone. The army was gone. Palutena was gone. The angel jumped and tried to reach his weapon one last time, but the black spots in his vision finally took over, and there was nothing more to see there.

Nothing, except for the small orange dot shining in the distance.


	2. First Questions — The Nowhere Market

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pit awakens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bit short, but had to cut it for the next one.

* * *

“There is something wrong.”

The unwanted conclusion came in a whistling hum, low but enough to draw the Lone Swordsman’s attention. Bright yellow eyes met teary hazels as the wind blew their clothes. They were alone at the top deck of Battleship Halberd, quiet as the stars twinkled above their heads and beyond their touch. The artificial lights of the deck send shadows across the floor of one long curvy line alongside a sharp circle.

“I hate to admit, but it’s true.” In an honest note, Meta Knight didn’t want to be having such a conversation in the first place. To admit something was wrong somewhere in the cosmos was to admit there was a new imminent thread coming towards them yet again. “It’s too quiet around here, but according to Waddle Dee...”

“It’s happening in a place very far from here. Lights, perhaps. And it's coming closer.” Meta Knight nodded, almost amazed by their fast learning over the info, but remaining in silence. The time was virtuous, and Meta was glad this time the thread was not unique to Dreamland. Even if the one holding the conversation was the initially unwelcoming guest to the party.

“We need to prepare ourselves then.” He took a step out of the grid and began to walk back to the cabin. They sniffed and nodded, seeing the leader walking away with swift determination. “They’ll meet their fate soon enough.” 

The deck’s lights shut down.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**First Questions — The Nowhere Market**

* * *

The irony of Pit being a servant of light currently overshadows was shameful to his mind and easily swallowing his pride of Captain. The truth was that Pit had never felt so lost in his entire life, including the many times he thought he was going to die for sure. This one of those situations where even the most humorous and sarcastic friend would be unable to lift the mood and joke about the experience. He was drained, completely shut down from the outside world in both metaphorical and literal sense.

He had heard of war prisoners before, it was part of basic education over the war of Medusa, and for him the concept was disgusting. Now, for almost sure, he was one to whoever invaded Skyworld, because at the current moment he was iron chained from wrist to wings inside a checkered moving cell. The outside was a pit of darkness, one single source of light visible at the top of the window’s creek surrounded by the nothingness. A carrier, of course.

Pit hummed a faint melody, trying to focus on something else, but everything would come back at the Temple’s raid with fire and destruction all around. The angel let out a very shaky breath, a choke stuck in his throat. Just thinking was making him sick, his face twisting in immediate agony. Maybe, if anything goes even more downhill, he could be left behind to rot and drown in guilt.

"Hey, wings! It’s time to go!” The hoarse voice coming from outside belonged to the carrier—his captor. He didn't know their actual name, but they were the only ones carrying him, so it sounded more logical to follow the lead.

There was an excessive clapping as the moving cell—abruptly braked. Pit tumbled to the other side, knocking his head hard on the wall with the move. He would be happy if someone outside gave him some information about how he ended up being squirmed in a cage in the first place and kill his suspicions already.

The door opened, and Pit looked up. Meeting the outside, the angel was greeted by the harsh wind, making him shiver in cold. He almost backtracked, but a crack stopped him. Even with a very blurry vision, he was able to understand the empty world ahead: the place was a great iron fortress surrounded by strange blue fluorescent trees. It was a grim setting, complete with a bright silver moon shining in the dark skies with no stars and cold temperatures palpable. A place for hidden, if he could say. Crickets and buzzes were flowing with the dead nature, being soon overshadowed by the engineering sounds of the gates opening to them both. The sound made his mind work again, somehow.

“No, no. We are going in.” They said it again. Pit glanced at the carrier, noticing the abnormal height of the yellow being—probably the same as a Snowman, but eerie similar to an orc—, and how their buff four arms were holding the chains as a horse rein. As they went through the fortress and walk inside the long dark halls, Pit tried his best to not look defeated, maintaining the best neutral expression he could for the moment, even with the unbearable pain crossing his body very often. 

“You’re going to meet Lady Endeavor now, so behave yourself or things will get ugly.” The warning came out in a very threatening tone, in which Pit decided it would be best to listen shut.

They stopped at a metal door, decorated in skulls and blue torches. Pit swallowed dry, the carrier’s moves forcing him to enter the darkroom with no anticipation of what would happen. Then, two hands touched his burned shoulders. 

“Welcome back, Cak.” A deep, feminine voice greeted. Pit felt the air around him cool down as the flames illuminating the room lit up a little more.

The figure was immense, probably taller than Palutena could be. He turned around almost immediately after having a slight glance at very sharp and thick fangs under the robe. Even without magic, he could _feel_ the evil crippling inside that soul, filled with nothing but pure malice. “And that would be…?” 

“It’s an angel, Lady Endeavor. I managed to catch him and his weapons all at once. You wouldn’t believe it, but it’s pure gold!” Cak said, having a somewhat proud tone. “How much do you think he can cost?” 

“W-What do you mean with that?” Pit spoke for the first time, and by lights, it hurts deeply his throat.

“It depends.” Endeavor seems to shrug at his protest, jumping to just ask for more questions. “Can he fly? I heard these creatures have amazing flying skills, maybe more than Titans, so can this one fly too? I can see his wings are very damaged from afar, and there are plenty of creatures whose only reason to have wings is for aesthetic."

"Oh, yes, of course," Cak noted. "Angel, can you fly?"

It was at his point Pit realized he couldn’t hide his fear anymore. His wings, chained and heavy, weren’t obeying any of his commands since the fall, remaining low and loose. If the supposition was right, then it would be over and he had no Goddess to follow. 

“I can remove the chains if you want to, Lady Endeavor.” The hands moved to take the iron away, and Pit could only flinch when they removed the piece from his left-wing that, for his utter terror, remained low. 

“Oh, I can see that something is wrong with it. Cak, please ask the staff to get some treats and maybe a healer too. I need to have a very long conversation with this one.” Endeavor hummed the request, passing a long finger across Pit’s face as the other soon left the room. “So, angel—” 

“Why am I here?!” Pit demanded, clenching his fists and still refusing to look at her. “What’s going on?!” 

There was a sigh of disappointment coming from her, a very loud tsk. 

“I didn’t want to introduce myself in a bad way, but…” 

Pit choked as Endeavor advanced and grasped him by the neck, her hands immediately suffocating the angel. Forcing himself to look up, he had the vision of the monster covered in the rob Endeavor's face was pointy like an animal's, smooth and dark with several eyes without looking up at him. She parted her lips in delight, showing an extremely long expansion of sharp long teeth as if saying he was _indeed_ right in fearing her.

“I guess I don’t another choice.” She breathed it again. “So, let’s start one more time, shall we? I’m Endeavor, ruler of the Nowhere Market. May you tell me your name?” 

"Ah! Pit! It's Pit!" he cried out, taking sharp breaths as he tried to get out. “My name is Pit!”

“What a peculiar name!” Endeavor exclaimed, suddenly joyful. “Now I can finally start the protocol for all newcomers.” Satisfied, she threw him on the floor just like a rag-doll. Pit didn’t dare get up again, pain reaching his body as he choked for air. As she prepared what it seemed to be a video, Pit noticed how the chains had become a little lighter to carry over. Remaining silent for obvious reasons, he only stared back at her when a new voice filled the void.

_“The Nowhere Market. A place for the misguided and the lost in this vapid, terrifying space, perfectly hidden inside a dark nebula far from any legality or federation. When they need something, anything, you come here and we will have it. You are currently at the heart of the market, where the master receives any person to guarantee the Market’s safety. Behind these walls, under the woods and covered in mist, you will find miles of corridors filled with cabins and many products at your service. Weapons, food, and even other creatures. Feel welcome to enjoy what otherwise would be a forbidden marketing place, as here Federation rules are non-existent. Thank you, and have a stellar time.”_

“You look so confused it’s almost funny.” Endeavor noted; her hands raised into the air. “But I know you don’t care about this wonderful world. You care about you and solely you at this moment, right?” 

Pit gaped. Of how much he wanted to yell _yes_ , he became incapacitated to do so. He saw as she pulled a slim blue and bright rectangular piece from her mantle and started to write something on it. 

“Bad news. Your planet is locked. I don’t really understand the type of tech they used, but according to Cak’s log, you were in a piece of land floating away from the atmosphere and was somehow still alive. That could make you an eccentric acquisition to the market.” 

Pit’s face boiled in red rage. “I am not a product!” They both turned to face each other again, and Pit had to hold even more the urge to turn away after seeing all those eyes blinking simultaneously. 

“Then what are you?”

The door slammed open. Two blue creatures, all wearing a heavy type of red armory for the guards, stood up in front of Endeavor with panic screaming in all their movements. 

“Lady Endeavor!” One of them exclaimed. “We have a red alert!” 

Pit got to his knees, breathing still weak and heavy but balance at least restored. It took only a glance on the floor to realize why: a piece of broken metal was scattered next to him, and the chains around his wrist and wing were quickly losing the grip. 

“Excuse me?” Endeavor frowned, somehow. Worry jumping from her body movements. “We can’t have a red alert, except for– shit, they can't possibly find us here! They can't track our machines!”

"But what if it isn't our machines?" the other one asked.

"Then it's an intruder's fault! We need to—" Another clash made the three aliens jump backward. A chain held the first blue guard against the wall, and another crashed into the sidewall. Endeavor remained intact, only seeing a shadow closing the door in another slam, and white scorched feathers flowing around before landing softly on the floor.

* * *

Pit never thought in his entire life that he would miss Palutena’s sneaky remarks during his misfortunes as he did now because if she was there, she would be cracking many jokes around while aiding. He almost chuckled with that, after all, now that he managed to escape from there somehow, he could use a bit of humor to light up. 

It wasn’t a smooch jailbreak. He was still inside the building, running and trying to keep nimble the guards' attention, who also was running around because of the so-called red alert. It was surprisingly easy to hide in the shadows though, thanks to the awful blue torches illuminating the halls but it was still a challenge to do so.

While running, he had a few thoughts already boiling inside his head. The brand new wave of information was vague but useful to use. Ignoring Endeavor’s sudden existential moment, there was a lot to swallow. The lock mentioned before was a clear enemy stunt, and that meant Skyworld was not destroyed but conquered for a bargain as a whole. Having that in mind, Pit pinned the first objective on his list: retrieve his weapon from whoever had it in hands to get away from that market. 

While thinking, there was continuous rum following his ears. Something inside his mind was telling it was the market outside, where usually there were loud with people running around and exchanging products. The sound got slightly louder as he started to follow a staler hall with his hands, so he decided to go ahead. A few footsteps and a snap. He had a glance at the armored man walking in his direction. Stumbling, he started to fast his pace, now fully running away. Right at the end, he saw a glimpse of light. Bright yellow light. _It was the exit!_ Pit smiled and put his feet together to reach the end. His footsteps were becoming moister, mixing with cold dirt. He could feel freedom at his grasp, at least. 

He reached the light, and there was no ground to step in.

Pit was falling.

When he slammed the light and found the outside, the intoxicating smell of burned food took his flair, and the light itself momentarily blinded him. All joined with a false step and he fell from the tall wall right into an improvised wooden ceiling, dropping hard on a table filled with kitchen utensils and pasta.

“ _What'a_ is that!” A shout coming from behind made Pit jump away with wide eyes, finally noticing what happened. Oh heavens, he fell in a restaurant. “Hey, you! Answer meh, already!” A hand grasped hard on his shoulder and he had to face a very weird looking guy with a chef attire. “Are ya gonna pay for _tha’_ damages or _wha’_?”

Pit gulped. “I-I-I-I am sorry but-but-but...”

“The guards!” A customer shouted, dodging the chef’s attention. Pit took advantage and escaped from him, running away from the scene before the man could even bother to yell. Looking up at the sky, the surprise to see a clear sunny view was very contradictory. Maybe he got stuck with the Lady Endeavor longer than he’d thought? Or maybe the place had a strange day cycle. It was an unknown planet, after all. Or maybe just another realm. The fortress on this side of the view was a long and high slim wall with random doors positioned around.

The place was truly insane. It was a mess of tents and business rolling around. So many different kinds of creatures that were surreal for his knowledge coexisting together. His senses were overloading beyond so much information, and the crowd becoming fuller was starting to make him lose hope about finding his weapons. There were so many things—too many things perhaps.

“Okay Pit, you’ve got this.” He said to himself. “Just keep the focus and search for your blade. It’s easy, easy, just keep the focus and...”

His mantra was interrupted by something curling around his waist. Before he could say something, he was yanked from the ground and suspended in the air. In a gasp, the others around him started to run, just as he had time to see the enormous shape of a reptilian anthropomorphic creature appeared right in front of him with a sickening grin stamped at his very green face.

“I’ve got it!”

Pit let out a whine, turning his eyes away from the thing. He dropped on the floor again a few seconds before a loud explosion rips apart a wall of fruits at the reptile. Blue eyes darted the cluster of creatures and back at the other side where there was a bigger spreading of people, all screaming about 'space pirates' and running for safety. With a clench of fists, Pit lifted and began to run away from the now big fight, with the market guards fighting several reptiles armed to the teeth.

“Don’t let it escape! It’s our price!” Another one ordered in a screech but for luck, Pit was already out. He’d managed to drag himself into an alley before letting a loud whine escape his lips. With weak knees, he fell behind a pile of trash, seeing and hearing the shadows outside howling violently. The same rum was back, and the explosions not very far were noisy enough to make him physically unable to move more. Too many sounds overloading his senses. He had made zero progress and was nowhere close to something else.

A voice cracked not very far, and suddenly he saw himself walking away again. Frustration was growing inside his chest and it was getting hard to truly ratiocinate his moves. His limbs were numb, just numb. He had nowhere to run anymore, but surrender was not an option for him. Pit rather die than being enslaved by a weird multi-eyed creature. It didn’t take a few more steps for him to feel his body giving up again. He was ready to slam the dirty cement, but a pair of arms prevented him from hitting the hard ground. An intoxicating scent of roses lingered around him the moment he let himself being embraced by the very tall figure. With a squeeze of eyes, he was able to see the stunning image of a human woman holding him.

“Don’t worry, my dear. You can rest for now,” Her voice came in a warm whisper, and before Pit could even retort, he had already fallen into unconsciousness.


	3. Burning Grounds — The Great Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pit finds an ally, and together they face a piece of hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, here’s a +5k long chapter to compensate the delay! Took me a long time to edit this one, while also editing the other chapters for grammatical and continuity errors, I work alone. The old ch3 is gone but it was not erased, just fused with ch2. Hope you guys enjoy! 
> 
> *Warning for mentions of blood, injury, and descriptive violence and illness. 

* * *

“The mission was a success, boss. There was not much to do except for the killing, but we did it.”

The room has been deadly quiet since the last sentence. Magma was flowing down through the large steeled platform beneath a stained throne of iron, where a cybernetic figure was laying still above a group of armed and reptilian-like anthropomorphic soldiers. Yellowish dead eyes were watching each of their moves carefully, waiting. There was a growing tension there, with his sudden quietness after what was supposed to be great news bringing an unspoken terror inside each of the creatures.

The Cunning God of Death was very found ambitious about his deals. His emotionless neutral stare perfect to hide any feeling of anger—gladly so, because if he wanted, all of them would be dead already. When the deal was made with those strange creatures, he was promised something back: a weapon. A weapon so powerful he would be able to turn the entire galaxy beneath his knees, just enough to finally bring down his enemies to his feet. He wanted that power at any cost, and they should have been grateful he accepted the deal instead of hijacking and taking over. Looking now, it should’ve been the better option. Ridley hummed then, feeling his head jerking at the way back to his neck. Disdain filled him from the moment the horde of Space Pirates returned and he saw the crew's hands and claws empty.

“And where’s the weapon?” The large pair of metallic wings spread out, causing the crew to drop their guns. Ridley’s eyes glimmered in anger, and he stained a grimace.

“It escaped. And before we could do anything, they took the weapon from our sigh.” One of them was brave enough to speak up, but not very lucky. Immediately, Ridley moved his tail and a trail of magma fell on the Pirate, giving him seconds of unbearable agony before melting down completely on the ground. 

“For all of you, search for the weapon and bring it to me alive. I don’t want to hear any more excuses.” Ridley watched in boredom as they flew away from the ground and grinned when the gates closed. Such incompetence coming from the fools, he knew they would cause more unnecessary destruction than actually finding the target, perfect for a distraction. For such a reason he had already a backup plan, and the bio fluorescent dark blue figure standing next to him was his reason to grin. 

He was promised gold, and he was going to receive gold. No matter the consequences and damages.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Burning Grounds — The Great Escape**

* * *

When Pit recovered his consciousness, he was embraced by a strange warmth. 

It felt good, welcoming as home. For a foolish second, he was allowed to breathe and think it all had been a strange nightmare and that he was back home, waking up from the haunting and painful dream, and then Pittoo would enter the room and crack a joke about how terrible he looked at mornings. Just a few seconds to focus however made him realize that he was still there over the unfortunate situation. But this time it felt a little better, and the soft surface he was laying proved that. The air felt lighter too, no dirt at sigh, but the sweet smell of mushroom soup spreading across the room thanks to the boiling steam. Such a good smell that his stomach growled.

Very reluctant he sat up, such blunt move bringing him a sharp pain on his chest. This was starting to get annoying rather than just painful. The place was a large shed filled with pointy metallic junk raising until the dark ceiling. Pit himself was laying under a rusty carriage with makeshift cloths covering the nonexistent roof; the source of light was coming from a massive bonfire cracking the wood a few foots far from him. This is where he noticed the very tall figure standing next to the fire, mixing the food without realizing he was awake. Blue eyes lit up in expectation, as his stomach groaned now shameless louder. The figure gasped, looking at him and instantly giving a very fond smile. 

“Oh, you’re finally awake,” she said, her voice giving a very palpable feeling of relief. Her eyes—two large hazels staring at him—had a gleam of compassion, or maybe pity. “you have been asleep for hours now, I was starting to get worried.” 

“Oh... Oh, oh, ouch!” Pit gasped softly, feeling his chest panning in pain yet again. With clenched hands around his arms, he noticed he was dressed in a baggy blue trench coat, with too many reddish bandages around his limbs. Only then Pit realized how precarious his situation currently was.

“Be careful and don’t touch the bandage now.” She called immediately, making him put his hands down his knees. With his mouth shut, Pit watched her put the food in two bowls and approach him, setting the contents above a small makeshift table. 

“I’m sorry.” He blurted out. 

“Don’t apologize for that. I just need to take care of your wounds.” She called, starting to replace the bandages and giving him the silent permission to eat while doing so, and Pit was too hungry to deny. More than he’d ever felt in ages. 

This woman was nice, Pit realized after seeing how much she didn’t want to instantly kill him and just genuinely help, something that was refreshing after the nightmare fuel of the last hours, or days maybe. Oh, yes, he had lost the notion of time by now. Time didn’t even seem to exist in such a place for Pit to count, but she was nice. Visibly tired like he was, but nice. Familiar too, with the soft pale skin and slim smile. Her hair dark and wavy, and her outfit fitted with the weird world around them, with a simple monochromatic bodysuit and green cape around her shoulders.

“What’s your name, dear?” She asked, giving a half-smile.

“Pit.” He said with a mouthful. “It’s Pit.”

She only giggled. “How cute. My name’s Ophelia.”

“Oh, that’s a cool name.” He nodded, giving a faint smile.

“You know, it has been eons since I’ve last seen a winged being with my own eyes,” she said, and Pit stopped at his last spoon. Before he could even elaborate a question, he was interrupted by the vision of his white _chiton_ being held down by her. “this is why Endeavor is after you, right?”

“How—wait, how do you—?”

“It’s all over the place now. Why do you think I changed your clothes?” Her question was redundant, but it only made Pit boil in confusion. He frowned, then let his eyes widen with the next phrase. “And that’s not the only reason why I helped you.” 

He darted at Ophelia with burning eyes. Her voice had lost the initial sweetness, and the woman had now a serious glare pointed at him. More specifically, pointed at his chest. Pit lowered his head with a heavy sigh. The pain was starting to get worst, but he tried his best to brush it off. That’s until he realized. His chest. In pain. Since he awoke there.

“There is another reason. The main one, indeed.”

Without a second warning, her hands moved right next to his chest, opening the jumpsuit zipper and revealing his chest to both. There was a large lint covering the right side of his skin, and Pit felt something really bad was under it just by seeing the shade of purple around the bandage, penetrating the usual peach skin color. The woman held her breath before slowly taking out the lint, and this time it was Pit’s turn to hold his breath. Behind the cotton, there was a deep dark purple tumor-like mutation pulsing over his muscles at the rhythm of each heartbeat given.

“If you’re feeling pain now, it’s because of this.” Ophelia was careful while pointing out. “You are cursed, and life is draining out of your body. Your energy was so negative I could feel from miles away, and when I finally found you, you were being hunted by both the market boss and the space pirates altogether.” 

“Wha—What the—Why?!” Pit croaked the questions to no one, not even to himself. He just gaped and felt sick to his stomach, ready to throw up the food right there. 

“Angel, dear, breath.” He felt a hand lying on his head, kindly stroking his hair while forcing him to sit down. The place felt out of touch and Pit was ready to pass out again. He struggled at first but desperation was only starting to make the wound pain again, so he tried to calm down. Ophelia was trying her best to bring him back too but it took so much time from them the few minutes felt like an eternity. 

“Just let me say what I need to say, alright?”

Pit shook his head, knowing very well this was only going to get worse.

As the explanation went, he shouldn’t be surprised. He really shouldn’t. He was an angel and had already fought menacing fools before. Hades, Medusa, massive gods of destruction and rage, were a few examples to memory date. He should have already guessed it was something more than destiny could control. Again, he shouldn't be surprised. But there he was, surprised.

It was a very old tale; all angels had at least heard once about the balance of the universe, the two opposites of the same coin necessary for each other. Pit himself had listened a lot while watching Viridi debating with Palutena about human morality. Silly divine conversation, passing by with no heavy implications at first. But maybe the should’ve had paid more attention.

“So, an order of darkness who wants to obliterate light and to do so they attacked us?”

“Not ‘an’, but ‘the’.” Ophelia shook her head, crossing her arms. “They came from the dept and want to seize light completely, all in the name of the shadows and its master. Their hatred simply lays on their weaponized ambitions but it has escalated to dangerous levels. It’s a cult created by darkness itself, and yes, they want to obliterate light. Completely.”

Ophelia was staring straight into the fire, her eyes lost and missing the previous kind gleam. Pit felt his own eyes burning, lungs suffocating with the dullness coming from the other.

“In the name of darkness?”

“Well, for surface, but it’s more in the name of the master, Dharkon. It’s ancient because Light versus Darkness as a rivalry is a necessary tale to keep the entire existence in equilibrium. They are opposites that attract each other, being extremely hating on each other and battling constantly from the start until the end of times. Because of this, the universe suffered too many times to be counted. The existence has died and reborn too many times and every time is the same outcome, but the ways to reach the point are usually different from each one. But it can’t be helped; it’s a cycle, one that should remain untouchable until it restarts again.” 

_“But things changed since the last cycle.”_

“Of course, they changed.” Pit gave a dry laugh before feeling the twinge guilt crawling his chest, his face twisted in pain. “Why wouldn’t they?” 

“Oh dear,” Ophelia gasped, eyes suddenly regaining life. “I’m sorry for being so harsh, but I know this feeling. Being out of touch, sadder, and dreadful beneath your fate. That’s part of the curse one of them used over you. It’s the reason why it hurts so much.” 

Pit felt his body stone cold, and he couldn’t stop thinking about that thing currently craving its way deeper inside his soul every single moment and how all of this was _their_ fault. “And... How I can revert it?” 

“It’s usually immediate and has no reversal.” She said in a rumble. “Most of the time, I mean. If you have a strong will, you can have a few spare hours and try to revert, but this requires killing the one who cursed you in the first place. But what makes me intrigued is that you have been affected for more than a day and it’s just slowly decaying.” 

Pit’s eyes lit up with the last part looking between the woman and the hurt.

“I’m willing to believe you have a greater blessing over you to save time.” Pit felt his heart skip a beat. Without knowing, this was exactly the answer he needed. A powerful link. A greater blessing. A divine power. _Palutena._

“She is alive.” His voice was barely a whisper. “It means she’s alive! This explains why my wings are not working! And that helps a lot! I need my bow back.” 

Ophelia was taken aback. “Your... Bow?” 

“Okay, listen. I need my bow. Palutena’s Bow! It’s my chosen weapon. I’ll be one hundred times useful on the battlefield using it. With the bow, I will be able to make distance attacks instead of direct combat. If I shoot the enemy right, I can free myself!” Even if his face was devoid of deep emotion, his voice was far from nonchalant. Very hissy, but hopeful, and that was the key: hope. Something he should never lose, no matter the situation. 

“Are you sure?” She asked, offering him a hand to get up. He nodded wordlessly. There was no counterargument, only acceptance. A very tired one that meant _this was not how the conversation should’ve have ended._ “Alright then. But where we can start?”

* * *

The auction house, because of course, it was the auction house. 

The place was fancier than the other areas and had top-notch security. A fairly calm and peaceful space, with many intergalactic being stopping by to take a prohibit drink and chat around, bragging about their many belongings while waiting for each new auction to happen. The complete opposite of what was currently going on outside because hell would be the perfect word to describe instead. 

The market was bleeding in chaos from the top of the shed. The Space Pirates, as they are called, were ripping each corner in genocidal pillage. They were also battling Endeavor’s army, who was very orthodox methods to deal with the problem by burning them. As expected, half of the place was slowly becoming a huge battlefield on fire. The screams were audible from inside, and it was a great bother to Pit. 

“When you get the bow, will you be able to fly too?” Ophelia whispered the question while fixing her plain white mask. She was also helping Pit with own mask, making sure to keep his identity hidden along with a new blue cape. 

“I don’t know.” Pit shrugged. “I can’t feel _Her_ energy at all, but if I’m still alive, there’s a small chance I can take flight for a few minutes?” 

“There’s a very high chance.” Ophelia smiled lightly in assurance behind the porcelain. Pit had never felt so small before. The place was built for the royals, all covered in red curtains and fancy furniture—also, it was very dark compared to the outside, with a moody yellow illumination at each top corner of the rooms. This was the perfect place to sell an arrow blessed in light and adorned in gold, it would make a very good buck for the seller. Pit groaned, fidgeting his fingers together while waiting. The obnoxious scent of citric perfume was nauseous to him, but he was trying his best to avoid cough because that was very painful to do. The aura the place carried was also not helpful. Well, nothing there was helpful at all. 

“Alright, they are going to start a new auction in a few minutes, I can see the staff moving around,” Ophelia whispered next to him, seemly looking over the halls. 

Pit clasped his hands, “Good, can’t wait to get out of here.” 

They weren’t the only ones waiting in high expectations. There were many speculations in low murmurs, many bets about who can buy the highest product of the day. Pit couldn’t bear to listen to so many foreign languages, but somehow, he knew they spoke in snobby rich by the high notes given at the phrases before the laughs. 

“Before we can go any longer, can you tell me exactly what happened there?” Ophelia asked, and Pit stood for a second before explaining what he knew. In exchange, he finally got information about both Endeavor and the mentioned Space Pirates. To find out they were a large bunch of mercenaries led by a menacing murderer was not very nice. 

“Well, this buff, I don’t really know, but they threw me for interrogation and went away to get something. But they vanished and how I was only with them before, it’s for sure they took my weapon.” 

“They probably did, dear.” Pit felt her hands squeezing his shoulder in sympathy, something she was doing a lot since they got out. “But do you remember their name or?” 

Before she could keep going the lights shut down completely, putting the space under a black void. The hinges of the doors creaked as steps were heard at the back row. A tall figure stood between two others, all of them being given the spotlight in a click. One of them went immediately to Pit’s recognition. 

“Oh, it’s Cak. Stupid orc, ‘thought they were dead after dealing with some mobs. Stars, I hate them.” Pit froze after said words. Destiny was tricky but for sure it couldn’t be a complete asshole to him. He just didn’t put two enemies in the same room together, did he? “I hope they didn’t put you under this rug, dear.” 

Oh, he did. 

Pit excused himself, trying not to sound as distraught as his body language was currently becoming, leaving Ophelia to wait while stumbling himself in other aliens until he reached a door that leads to the backstage. The mask was muffling loud gasps for air, and he was blind walking through the place in disorientation. While that, Ophelia herself was distracted as the items started to getting sold for higher prices, a jewel crusted sword being taken by more than five million units. If they kept the fast pace, then the bow would be way ahead of her credits.

The angel was able to scroll past the oblivious meddlers and guards and reach a room before collapsing inside. Taking off the mask to wipe the tears from his eyes before realizing it was cold sweat soaking him. The curse—the source of his problems. By looking inside his clothes and seeing the veins spreading his chest, he could confirm that the curse also fed itself with negative thoughts. He pulled the mask again, fixing his composure before taking a look at the place. It seems like the auction house was built over an older building, noticing how the structure felt a little more familiar with brick walls and wooden doors. He also realized it was probably a storage room for the number of boxes and covered material there. 

It wouldn’t hurt to take a look, right? His weapon could be there, somewhere, because Cak was there too! This could be his only chance, so he snatched. Pit took a step forward and leaned next to the closest box, searching there before finding nothing and jumping next to another. Soon enough the room became a mess, as Pit became more reckless and simply threw the objects once he didn't find what he wanted, either throwing back or taking a closer look. Many were cool but none truly useful. Well, maybe the rich guy could be willing to pay for golden trash.

He stumbled around the covers and cloths before looking above to see a covered set pinned over the wall. He approached the item with the last of his hopes and uncovered the last item, causing the glass under to fall from its support and crashing completely over the floor. Pit fell back to protect himself, but when his eyes opened again, the spark over the blue irises was priceless. 

Meanwhile, the outside was burning. The situation was escalating badly and many creatures were departing from the planet in loaded ships regardless of being paid or not. Endeavor was fuming upon seeing her empire crumbling in pieces in a matter of a day. Her only options were either surrender to the Space Pirates or call for help at the risk of being arrested. No, but there was no way the Federation would arrive in time, they were too busy ignoring this corner of the universe. Her only option was to wait until the auctions were done to collect all the units and fly away. She could build another planet with no problems, even at the cost of everything else. So, she simply turned around and let her servants behind to burn ready to move, but the image of a golden armor at the horizon could just have ruined all her plans. 

Inside the audition auditorium, Ophelia was frantically tapping the small screen buttons of her scroll. She needed to take credits or otherwise, she was a dead woman walking. The items were now crossing the line of millions more and debt was not acceptable under the layers of the black market. But what surprised her was to see so many securities protocols over other’s accounts under the market’s web completely shut down, so she took complete advantage of the moment. Now all they had to do was to buy the arrows and get out— 

“Ophelia?” 

“Ah, shh! Don’t call me that here, dear!” She scream-whispered as Pit sat next to her. “What are you doing? Wait, where were you?” 

“Oh, about that...” Pit pulled his cape from behind his back, revealing golden blades wrapped over some piece of cloth. Ophelia’s eyes widened, and even if she couldn’t see, she was sure Pit was smiling. “I mean, I still can’t fly but I sure feel more relieved. She’s watching me somewhere and I’m sure She’s laughing now because of how I did so.” 

“Pit, how brilliant of you!” Ophelia closed her scroll and placed a hard over his shoulder carefully. “Now we can get out of here before—” 

“Master! All the products were vandalized!” One member of the staff stepped over the place. Everyone gasped, the screamed in horror. The lights shut down and a red alarm was placed. Cak’s voice calling all the doors to shut and all the guests to be inspected at the same instance. 

“Oh, how _great_.” Ophelia hissed, pulling a hairpin out of her hair, which made her straws flow wildly behind her. “Listen, are you strong enough to fight now?”

“I-I guess, the blade’s energy still keeps me up. Why?” Pit muttered, only to be pushed back behind her as the hidden accessory sparkled and became a long silver staff in her hands, having a green crusted jewel placed at the top. Pit glared at the guards, then at the guest, and then at Cak. They were mad and ready to attack.

“Prepare!” 

“Get them!” 

Pit ran, pulling his bow and shifting them around his hands, separating the blades into two swords before twisting the way to hit a guard flat in the chest. Ophelia moved the opposite way as her staff glowed and created a green spear, taking two enemies at once. With that, a shooting started, but it did nothing besides exploding the furniture and splitting up the enemies. _Keep moving forward, just keep moving!’_ , that was his new mantra, as just keeping positive in this situation was impossible. The fight was dense and someone managed to shoot one of his wings, leaving a trace of feathers across the floor. Deflecting the others became harder as the pain became more physical. Lines of red quickly painted over the walls and the floor as his steps became sticky. 

Ophelia was using the tip of her staff to stab the guards while using the front to shoot. She glanced sideways to see Pit standing in the middle of fallen guards. He was doing well, even with the black veins becoming visible in his cheeks. The distraction gave Cak the moment to sneak behind and slid the way to rip Ophelia’s feet from the floor and pulled her across the room in a single slam. Roaring furiously, they lifted both blades and jumped straight to her direction, ready to stab Ophelia in the spot. 

“Get away from her!” Pit screamed and jumped over Cak’s shoulders. The orc tried to rim him off but the angel had already locked his legs around their neck. He managed to hit the creature’s jaw with a hidden piece of glass between his fingers, making them stumble and give Pit the chance to shove them away before falling unconscious on the floor. With a glance to his right, the fallen image of Ophelia stained in red and blue was unsettling, but he moved anyway to help her get up, only to be pushed for a hug. 

“Pit...” She purred in relief. “Thank you.” 

“No need for that.” He said back. A hand was placed and rubbing her back, and he let out a hiss of pain for her strong grip. The place was desert, and the two were the only ones standing. When they separated, Pit raised an open hand. “We’re in this together, then.” 

“After this, for sure,” Ophelia replied with a giggle. She took her staff back in hands and took off her mask. Looking at Cal, they were still unconscious, but it wouldn’t take too long for them to wake up again and snap. “We need to get out of this planet.”

* * *

Fire.

Just like Skyworld. Everything was burning. The situation had only gotten worse by the time they went outside. The skies were black in smoke, and the buildings were shredded in the dark as flames engulfed every single space of air. Pit was struggling to breathe, even if the mask had some sort of oxygen supply it was too weak to handle the massive amount of carbon monoxide coming from all sides. Ophelia was having to carry him because of how bad he became when stepping outside. He could only have a glance at the trail of destruction that kept rolling over again, reminding him of his last battle for Palutena.

“Hang on, dear, we’re almost reaching the harbor!” 

Pit coughed, “You have a ship?”

“No, I mean, sort of!” Ophelia explained. She stopped her tracks to put him down and fix her mask, a small green dot next to her right eye beeping in yellow. “I have a contact. They were supposed to be at the harbor to take me away from here, but the signal is weak and they don’t respond to me.” 

“And... What if there is nothing?”

Ophelia lowered her gaze, “Then I don’t—” 

“Wait, can you hear?” Pit said, raising his hand to stop her from talking. With a shush, he gazed at his surroundings, the silence is only impossible because of the continuous burn. But there was something else, far away, like the slow beating of a drum, and coming closer to them. It couldn’t be his powers; his wings were still laying flat. It was something else. With the possibility of a threat, Ophelia pulled her staff again, staying closer to Pit as he kept searching. His lungs were burning and he was concealing the coughs, but now he could hear what possibly was the sound of metal ramming into something. Stomps, heavy and carried, followed by a thin, irritable noise.

Looking beyond, Pit saw the glance of a shiny blue dot melting among the intense ocean of warm colors. 

“It is—it is another of those Space Pirates? Or maybe a market soldier?” Pit pointed at the direction with his sword. “Or your contact?” 

Ophelia gave one step back, narrowing her eyes to see off the distance the cluster of dark armor approaching faster as it appeared. The shape, with two large shoulders and slim mecha-body, was enough to make her tremble. Because while it seemed to be, it wasn’t. Before any further movement, a blast caught them aside, blue energy spitting fire wildly and shaking the building's foundations. Pit watched as the blue gained a new, intimidating shape of an armored creature of no face and sharp claws. 

“Morph…” It said, eerie metal cracking through the helmet. It rose its hand, and bones cracked as black mist emerged from its entrances, where Pit was able to see where the blue glow was coming from. This allowed him to see there was no person behind, just a living organism system stuck underneath the iron shell. 

“I got it!” Ophelia fenced forward with her staff, and the creature responded with another energy blast. Dust rose from the ground as they wrestled, fighting shadows with clear disadvantages. Her moves were heavy and getting slower because of exhaustion, while the other didn’t seem to be affected by any hit. If most, the damage only increased its resistance. 

Pit was on the ground, a line of red coming down his forehead and crossing his nose. The recollection of throwing himself in front of Ophelia and being promptly slammed into a wall was fresh as the rubble rising around him. He felt as if his skull was being ripped from his body in flesh, head ringing, and fuzzing his concentrations altogether. Desperately, he tried again, forging a light arrow and shooting against the blue dot his eyes were able to recognize. 

But then he heard a whistle. The wind stopped blowing his hair and a flash of light crossed his path before everything blew away. The dirt vanished in a cloud around him before he recognized a fourth shadow gaining form right in front of his eyes. A tall, armored figure of no face that mirrored the bluish-black enemy they were fighting in appearance only. Its intimidating stance was only overshadowed by the assurance there was someone inside just for Pit having the bare glance of a pair of human eyes behind the green visor. 

“Hey,” Pit called after a very long silence, “Are you Ophelia’s contact?” 

No response, only action. The newcomer shot several times over the duo until Ophelia was separated from the enemy. From the viable open spot and jerking forward, they set the Power Beam at Morph’s jaw and blew a high beam of energy, finally knocking the creature down. Not surprisingly, Ophelia was the one to collapse a few seconds after Morph fell, being pulled up and placed in one of the newcomer's large round shoulder pads. Pit could only stare as a massive floating ship appeared in the red skies above his head and before he had the chance to question, he is also pulled over the other shoulder and can hear one last voice before slipping into a comforting unconsciousness. 

_"Target Acquired."_

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this story is fast paced, believe or not.


	4. Sour Remembrance — Into The Void

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the rescue, conversations and deep space travel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's another chapter. This one's slower and informative, also wrapping more of what happened. Have a good reading!
> 
> *Warning for mention of sickness and death.

* * *

Nowhere Galaxy was a hellhole. Small, empty, and devoid of any kind of regulation. Its mere existence was only thanks to shady traders and artificial planets with its dying satellites. It would pass as a ghost place if the high rate of wanted criminals didn’t choose the place to hideout. Because of this, she had become familiar with the whole galaxy, but it didn’t dim her distaste for Nowhere. Her actions were ruthless, faster and therefore careless. The faster the better, as just spending mere seconds under the usual icy cold atmospheres the many planets would have when just landing was enough to give her bad remembrances. 

Cold. That was the usual. But this time it was the opposite. 

She was ready to cross the edge of the galaxy when she received a request call. It had the formalities of a mission, instructions and main order to retrieve a specimen from a yet another dwarf planet hidden under a dark nebula. But the urgent label and such a high price put on last-second made it sound too close to desperation. Coming closer to the set, it became clear why the pledge was so strange: the planet was in crisis, burning itself for no visible reason and for the worst matters the gunship settings were quick to point out the rising temperatures that could boil down a living being for overexposure. The worst thing was to have the confirmation of too many life signals still there. 

The coordination didn’t lie. It was a rescue mission. ADAM warned about the risks, but Samus found herself going into the fire anyway. The Hunter-class gunship burned when entering the atmosphere, then heated its insides the moment it settled a place to land. She went outside with her model Varia Suit, a sense of regret immediately filling as she stepped in the dry dirt. The target was beeping, and she was running to said direction with the spacecraft barring close for backup. Her run led her into a destroyed city, the called epicenter of the fire, where the signaled her to find the target. 

And she found them, along with something else. 

She was led face-to-face with a copycat. A creature that had the same shape of her Varia Suit, but slimmer and rougher with open gaps bleeding blue energy, an unknown epicenter of power that made her scanners go wild. It was not a creature of Phazon but something else entirely, and inside the silence cold of her armor, Samus felt a sense of dread crossing her soul. The implications over the mere existence of another bio-weapon doppelgänger mirroring her shape and going out for blood. But something prevented her from killing it. She didn’t know if it was the instinct of survival speaking louder than her code of morality, but she knew it was going to bite her back later. 

The getaway was safe—the planet combusted on itself and many ships were seeing scattering across space after the land collapsed. Luck was the very word that could be used to describe most of the survivor’s current situation, including theirs. The woman whose face was too familiar for Samus was the one to make the rescue call. Her looks hide her strength, as she had taken ahold of the blue doppelgänger before Aran’s arrival. After first aid, the woman was able to explain what happened out there, and while at the beginning it seemed like a rescue mission gone wrong, the brief mention of the Tallon destroyers was enough to shift the point. 

“They want the angel.” Was all said about the winged boy. An angel, which had a parasite growing inside his body and was killing him. Her first glance over the boy at first was not what she expected at all. 

Oh, this was going to be one of those. 

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Learning Names — Into the Void**

* * *

Pit woke up groggy and dazed from reality. His vision was blurry, only identifying the dim artificial lights above his head. His limbs were floating in an ache mixed with anesthesia, body restrained laying over somewhere comfortable enough to not complain. With time, sure enough, he was able to identify the sort of healing room he was stuck in. Gray walls connecting tubes and wires, shelves of glass containing many medical aids, and an empty stretcher at the corner.

Aiding meant safety, so he was safe. He has to be anyway; his last memory was being rescued so if something had gone wrong while he was out then he should’ve died. But that was not the case, at least for now. And Pit was too tired to bother getting away. He wanted to sleep a bit more, just to rest. He tilted his head to the window’s side in a weary move, threatening to close his eyes and sleep again, but he jolted awake when facing the vision beyond the thick window glass.

The ocean of pitch darkness painted in colorful hues of blue and purple swilling across endless twinkling stars. Pit hitched in fascination, blue eyes gleaming in a daze, watching the colorful clouds moving slowly over the silence. From the times he would fly away, the sky was always an ocean of blue with thousands of stars, but they never had the impression of being more than lights.

The door at the corner, barely visible to his eyes, busted open to reveal two human silhouettes. One was Ophelia, easy to notice by her puffy hair and cape. He smiled at her the best way he could, making more of a grimace while moving his fingers.

“Hey, Pit-dear.” Ophelia sat on the edge of the bed, lifting a hand to touch his forehead and feel his body temperature. “The fever is gone, that’s good. How do you feel?”

“I’ve been worse.” Pit shrugged, forcing the urge to not make a joke right after. “But really, it’s fine. I’m just—It's fine.”

“Are you sure about that?” The other woman spoke. “Because your medical file tells otherwise.”

Hearing this, Ophelia got up and cleared her throat, “Pit, this is Samus Aran. She is helping us out.”

His gaze fell back to the other one, the very tall, muscular, wearing a tight blue bodysuit and looking at him from above with a suspicious glare. Samus Aran, fearsome intergalactic bounty hunter, protector of the galaxies. Pit, of course, had no idea of who the woman was or what she’s done before. The only thing he knew was that she was extremely frightened, became unable to look away from her frivolous glare. Ophelia, rather startled, went away to one of the shelves and took one bottle out, leaving Pit sort of alone with Aran.

“So, heh… It’s been how long since, y’ know, I’ve been here?” Pit cringed hearing his voice, swallowing dry with a forced smile to hide the croaky tone.

“Hm. It’s been a long time. You’ve been unconscious for two days, and we’ve been trying to control the parasite from taking over your nervous system. The fever is a side effect, your body trying to fight against the illness, but it led you to have multiple convulsions throughout the time.” Samus explained as she started to list the many, many symptoms of the curse across his body and how badly it was perishing his body. She was being formal at best, hiding the sternness of the info behind the fancy words Pit lost count of. “There is nothing that can save you for now, but the medicine can slow the predictable end. You’re very lucky to be alive now.”

“Wow, thanks.” He deadpanned while screaming internally. “Harsh medicine, then.”

“You could say so.”

“Well, talking about medicine…” Coming next to him, Ophelia handed a glass of water. When Pit approached and sniffed the cup, a terrible smell made him wrinkle his nose in disgust. Ophelia gasped, “Oh, it’s okay, take it. This will help relieve the pain. It’s liquid because you’re awake, so.” She explained, pressing the glass between her fingers to give more emphasis.

Reluctantly, he drank it, feeling the bitter sour taste down this throat with a grimace. Ophelia smiled soft, giving one last pat on his head before heading out of the room. Pit was then left alone to rest with dim lights and an extra blanket layer wrapped around him, but it was not enough. Pit remained alert, hard eyes wide open staring at the ceiling as thoughts of his life passed by the artificial lights above. Forgotten memory, bedtime story turned reality. Pit was still trying to swallow the hard truth of the last day.

Forged from darkness itself, Dharkon. The nefarious creature was responsible for the loss of his home. Holder of a curse that was slowly crippling his body to the point of decay. The black veins spreading through his skin, burning his flesh merciless, the roots led to it behind the ones responsible for the destruction of Skyworld. The Order of Darkness. Fitting name, very straightforward. They may have succeeded there, but that didn’t mean they’ve won. Pit was still alive, after all.

Having the medicine slowly taking effect over his body, he let his last bits of consciousness dive into a glimmer of hope. To believe that Lady Palutena was alive. That Viridi found a way to escape. That Pittoo played one of his tricks on the invaders and fought back. That his peers were alright. That the humans below were safe. He was going to fly again and stop the madness. He had to. He was going to. And just like that, he fell asleep.

 **❝** **Dark Gold from Outer Gods.** **❞**

Pit jerked back into consciousness with a choke. Blood ran cold as his mind lingered the memories back into oblivion, leaving him alone in the void. He gasped for air, feeling the curse bumping in agitation while taking deep breaths to control himself. Forcing his body to sit up, he felt the urge to vomit and the dizziness from the sudden motion, but his grasp to reality only came when he jumped away from the stretcher. He was not restrained, and just by moving he felt better than before. He needed to keep moving, no matter the weight.

The gunship is quiet, the only sound being his footsteps echoing the halls. Stumbling around, not bothering to go beyond the closed doors and bother the two. Just passing and feeling his body moving was enough. Just like that, he found himself inside a living room. He sat at the large sofa with purple sheets, looking at the blank massive screen hanging on the other side with a large aquarium covering the borders. The fish tank was bright blue and colorful, protected with layers of iron to not break, and the fishes inside were quietly swimming there.

Looking down and lingering around, Pit noticed a hand mirror lying next to his seat. Curiosity got him, and as he took the mirror and placed front to his face Pit was able to see his precarious state from a better perspective—his own.

To a surprise, it was not _that_ bad. His skin was tons paler to almost sickly white, eyes devoid from glimmer but still held the strong blue shade. His bottom lip was red swollen, there was a small bandage just below his left eyebrow hiding the center of a large scar, and half of his body was covered in red from the previous fights. The curse, the main point of his decay, was visible and spreading. Under his sleeping fit, he could see the tumor bumping softly moving over the fabric, but slower. From the amount of endured pain; it could have been worse.

For Pit, the real bother was the unmoving pair of wings lying still on his back. A useless tool, and a gross reminder of what happened there. It was unbelievable to imagine how easily fooled he was. In his memories, they were on a run, with Pit taking the lead across the halls searching of Lady Palutena. There were seven angels alongside him, all of which were similar to himself, except their Laurel wreaths were made of green leaves and the golden pieces of their armor were silver instead. The team was once entrusted by Palutena over Pit’s guidance in case of emergencies, something that had never happened after the team itself was created.

From all of them, Pit had only known two: Klein and Gena, the muscles and brains of the team. Klein was muscular and wore nothing on his chest, using a crossbow to fight. Gena had a shield and she used a long cape to cover her body, she also had abnormal green eyes instead of blue. Inside his mind, there was a reason why he forgot what had happened during his last moments in Skyworld, and now he remembered why.

“Having trouble sleeping?” A voice from behind asked. Pit squeaked and jumped from the sofa, throwing the mirror on the floor and cracking the image of himself. 

“N-No, it’s fine! I was just—just looking, I didn’t touch anything.” Pit assured the bounty hunter with a double thumbs-up, kicking the broken pieces under the sofa, but that didn’t impress. “I swear!” 

Pit gave a shallow breath. Even with her being an ally, he could not help feeling scared. At the moment, her fierce features were shadowy by the faint blue lights of the water tanks, highlighting her dominant frame over the room. Pit could compare with meeting Medusa for the first time—first because she went downhill after her resurgence. 

“You need to rest, you know that?” Samus said, her piercing gaze obscuring whatever else she could be thinking about his instance. “Did you have a nightmare?” 

Pit stopped. “I... I mean, it’s fine, don’t worry, but I just... I had a bad dream.” 

“I can see that,” Samus responded, and Pit felt his shoulders shrinking. _Was that obvious?_ “But I guess this isn’t a surprise, considering what Ophelia said before.” 

A sigh played on paled lips before their gazes met at least. “So, you know?”

“Of what? I know what she knows. But what do you know? What happened to _you_? That’s the real question here.” Samus retorted, but her tone had become softer. The angel blinked, a little surprised. Samus had a genuine question, one that could allow him to vent over his newfound memories, and even behind the tough stare, there was a pinch of worry coming from her voice.

“It’s not that easy, honestly...” Pit rubbed his neck.

“We have time before your next dosage.” Samus sighed, leaning a hand next to his shoulder. “Do you want some coffee?”

* * *

It doesn’t take long for the two to get used to each other.

Settling down at the small compacted kitchen room and drinking a bit of the bitter-flavored drink, he felt more open for a talk. Pit felt bad for judging Samus so soon, too. She was a good listener, and while he spoke about his later life, she remained aware and only interrupted when asking for clarifications, and Pit was more than glad to explain. It even made him feel a little better and allow himself to play around for a bit.

For Samus, however, this was a bother. The angel was an ancient creature and yet had a very childish behavior. From his stutter to his excuses, even the way his legs hung off while drinking his coffee was reminiscent of a kid and yet there he was, telling about his greatest achievements that included fighting ethereal beings. There was no pity coming from her, however. The shade of doubt dimmed over time and worry grew instead, because she could see he was avoiding the core question, just like a child.

“Pit,” she called after he finished rambling about talking vegetables. “can you tell what happened now?”

His blue eyes dulled, and Samus prepared herself for what was coming next.

“I mean, from what I remember now it was not very cool. Terrible. I was leading a group to search for Lady Palutena, right after the invasion begin. It was easy to slay the minions, they were small and weak, and more of an annoyance than a real enemy so I thought this was going to be a breeze. But while we were doing so, we didn’t realize it was a trap, and that the real enemy was watching us while we were looking for her. Then, we got into a trap and—”

The angel stopped, giving a shaky breath. It follows by one last sip over the coffee, attempting to calm down that failed as his hands gripped tightly over the empty mug.

The group was cornered in one of the long halls of the Palace. Pit was the lead, and the others were backing up in a circle around him against the horde of darkness locked the group over the corner. He remembers giving a sharp inhale as the shadows dissipated to give space to two lone figures, aided by the image of a single, standing eye menacing looking at them. For making matters worse, he didn’t remember how the figures looked like, but he could still hear one of their voices, a venomous, high-pitched female voice casting spells, maybe because of what went next.

“There was this angel. Klein was his name. He was strong, trustable, or I’d thought so.” There was a multitude of barrels locking his urge to cry at the instance. “He betrayed us. Used his crossbow to intimidate, but I didn’t expect he would... Shot.”

Faster than a click of a tongue, a simple question made Klein snap. Pit had no idea of how far Klein was willing to go to prove himself as the strongest of the Guard. The female voice questioned what they truly wanted, and while Pit didn't get at first, now he could see it was a whistle for Klein to turn on them. That's where Klein gave a sick smile, pointing his crossbow at them, but pointed against Gena solely. In a hitch of breath, Pit forced the others to step back, unable to recognize the burning hunger inside those red eyes. Pit shouted him to stop, realizing the finger pulling the trigger, but it was too late. The bow went straight inside Gena’s chest, craving on her heart. The smart angel gasped, collapsing over her feet and dropping dead on the floor. The same happened with all the others, but for Pit—

“Dark gold from outer gods. That's what he said. I guess I was cursed somewhere in between. I just woke up because of that, because it _hurts_.” he said, and his voice finally cracked. Pit sniffed, releasing some tears after holding back for too long. Ignoring the curse and the negative feelings feeding in, he just needed to cry about the cruel shift in his life. Lights, not even Hades pulled so much from him. Samus remained silent.

“I mean, from that I just know that I was beaten up, but somehow not killed, then I find Palutena and she throws me away and I get kidnapped to a place I don't even know, only to then be almost sold and ran away and be hunted by a monster market trader and the Space Pirates, and fair note: when I heard Space Pirates at first, I thought they were the ones I’ve fought before to retrieve the Sacred Treasures long ago but as it turns out, they weren’t. Actually, nothing seems to be the same, even if it shares the same names or traits. It’s like I was taken away from my world and placed in a different one! Do you know how that feels?”

Now he was just spacing out. Not like Samus was not going to stop him, though. The kid was taking a tool to big to handle alone, no wonder he was dying.

But was he a kid? Childish, yes, but these tales counted thousand of years, for sure. He was not a kid in age but over everything else he was.

“Do you think I can do it?”

Samus glared at him, “what?”

“Go back home. I know it sounds weak but, I’m thinking that maybe…” Silence fell over him.

“Don’t say that.”

“Say what?”

“‘Maybe’. It means you are not sure about your objective.”

“No, you don't get it, I have one objective, but I don't know–”

“Exactly. You have little assurance over yourself. This allows doubt to take over. If you are doubting yourself and pulling your fears above all those accomplishments of yours, how do you even think about winning?” Samus approached and pressed a hand against his cheek. “Instead of thinking about failure, start to craft plans to get out of the situation with success, and by that, I mean surviving this situation as a whole.”

She moved away to give him space and get up, so they walked back to his room. Before he could turn his back and head inside, he had a realization.

“I don't think I can do this by myself.” Pit confessed quietly after a moment passed. He immediately regretted so, but that didn't stop him from saying the rest. “But I think I can if I'm not alone.” Pit paused for a second, a spark blossoming inside his chest just as he'd been blessed with Light just by saying so. With a weak smile, he headed back inside the room to rest.

Samus remained stood in place, absorbing the words in silence and not holding the baffled grin that grew over her face.


	5. Living Knowledge — Ophelia’s Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (1/2)  
> The trio arrives at their destination.  
> It goes as well as expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we go! Part 1 of a chapter I ended up cutting in half for being too long (even with short scenes, it was a lot of writing!). This one has a bigger focus over my OCS, and has a very -subtle- infodump. It will all come together at the next one, and for warning, it's going to be a heavy one.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy, have a good reading!

* * *

Just a few days were necessary to mold Skyworld into a mere shadow of itself.

There were long lines of fire burning across the clouds, foundation pieces from upper sculptures falling to land while still burning, feeding the fear of the humans who were watching the red skies burn for long, exhausting weeks. It was dark, with no sun or moon to rise and fall. The water coming down the rivers was sour with the falling ashes, black smoke making it hard to breathe each passing day. They didn't understand what was going on, left alone with no aid from the goddess to at least give a light, anything. But nothing came. Nothing, except smoke and fire.

From above, all alone, a slender feminine figure was watching the unfold despair from afar, inside the very place that was causing the humans’ anguish in the first place. A Vulture, preying and waiting with delight gleaming in those deep blue eyes underneath a long, pointed skull mask. She clenched her pale hands together, her long plumed cape moving with her shoulders, adorning her entire body except for the silver shoulder pads and cleavage opening from her bare chest. She had a smile creeping the edge of her lips, yellow fangs pinching the inner skin. Darkness was spreading fast, and it was gratifying to see.

“Did we found the reptile yet?” Her question came as a surprise to the approaching white-suited man with milky eyes visible under a blank, white mask. It was one of her abilities, but she was losing track over the length of her powers since that angel damaged her. Keeping the slow pace, he made the way to stand by her side, his gloved hands crossing above each other.

“Perhaps our judgment over the lifeform was too premature, so no, we didn’t.” His response was not a surprise, but his sudden curiosity over the gold cauldron was interesting. “What are you doing?”

“Just observing, Blamore.” Vulture said with a hand-wave. The mist inside the cauldron moving to the rush of an ash storm approaching another burning village. “Do you think they’ll get used to?”

“It’s a slow process. Most of them will perish anyway.” His voice was nonchalant, a norm considering how conversations were very rare in leisure, and there was not much to say after the Palace was taken beyond outside messages. So it brought her attention when Blamore revealed a scroll under his suit. “But while we have no sign of the beast, we found another object of interest. Yours especially.”

Vulture watched as he moved the paper in front of her, waiting for a peck. Much to his disappointment, she just snatched the scroll from his hands and sand put her attention over the short but dense message. Her eyes widened, and Blamore only watched as Vulture stumbled backward and dropped the scroll to the floor before a roar of anger ripped her vocal cords to something unrecognizable to any human ears. Unfortunately, he was not human.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Living Knowledge — Ophelia’s Truth**

* * *

Ophelia could feel her heart pumping in her throat, pounding as the scanners indicated the proximity to Gamble Galaxy’s Popstar. She had been playing this game for long enough to know things were going too well for their side.

Pit was doing well, but she was not sure how long he would be able to handle the situation. The curse was indeed slowing down, and Pit was getting more active thanks to the medicine, but it was still there; if they didn’t find a way to stop it, lock it from developing somehow, it would be a lost cause. As for Samus, she’s been awfully quiet while watching Pit’s development very closely. Ophelia was thankful for the help, but then again, her medicinal methods were not enough.

“With all systems working, we'll be there at daytime,” Samus grumbled next to her, calling her attention to the shipboard. Ophelia nodded, gazing at the settled coordinates at the corner of the screen. The Halberd was now hanging close to Castle Dedede, meaning they were gathering and waiting for her. Meta Knight was very specific with his request for information, she would be surprised if he didn't take action yet.

“Thank you.” it was her only response. She felt extremely uncomfortable next to the bounty hunter for some reason, but she couldn't get why. “I’ll be waiting inside.”

“Wait.”

Ophelia stopped, hitching her breath before looking at her again. Samus got up from the pilot’s seat. She was wearing full armor but her helmet was off, so Ophelia could see the way her greenish-blue eyes stared down at her.

“Yes?”

“You have a way to save the kid, don't you?”

“Pit is a high ranking angel from–”

“Look, I don't care about that,” Samus went straight to the point, walking her way until she is cornering Ophelia next to a wall with her cannon blocking the way out. “Rankings, names, it does not matter here. Just tell me, do you have a cure for the kid's illness?”

“It’s… Complicated.” Ophelia visibly shifted, but tried to keep her voice steady, “He was supposed to be dead the moment he was cursed, but he's alive, and kicking.”

“But is there a way to stop it, if he is still here?” she insisted.

“There is one, but it's risky. It can work, I mean, but, it's not very safe,” she confessed, but deep inside it was more of a guess than an assurance. But Samus moved a step away, visibly more relieved but wanting more than a vague answer. They stood there, just staring at each other because Aran still was not finished.

“He trusts you, and he’s counting on you to help him. It is never too late to try.” She finished, finally releasing Ophelia and returning to the board. Ophelia’s hazels gleamed, watering as she motioned her head down and stared at her own hands, clenching her fists before giving a shaky breath.

* * *

“We’re arriving at our destination.” ADAM’s voice resonated across the room, shaking Pit for a bit before he could recognize the source and calm down. The angel sighed, sitting up from the stretcher and cracking his arms. If rest meant sleeping almost the entire course, then Pit was doing that very fine, thank you. He gazed out the window to see the planet Ophelia said it was their final route. It was a bright yellow planet shaped like a five-pointed star with two blue planetary rings around.

The gunship started the landing process, breaking through the atmosphere with a burn. Swift, with no turbulence or difficulty. The gunship flew in only with a small tremor across the walls until the air dissipated, allowing the oxygen to stabilize itself around the crew. Pit was able to feel the effects, his body instantly gained weight and his breathing felt heavier too. Looking at the landscape, Pit gaped; clear blue skies along with green greens of endless meadows. A little ahead, the image of small houses with dots resembling citizens merged with the abundant nature.

“Pit-dear?” Ophelia called from the doorframe. Pit had to force himself to look away, giving a nod and allowing her to approach and sit next to him. “Hey there, how are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” he said. “I’m feeling better, really. The pain is still annoying, but now bearable.”

“That’s a good sign.” Her eyes leaned towards Pit, realizing where his attention was. “Do you like the view?”

“It’s pretty,” he crossed his legs, a hand touching the glass. “It’s very similar to home, but it’s not the same. But it’s still pretty, almost like a dream landscape.”

Ophelia chuckled at that, “Funny that, this kingdom’s name  _ is _ Dreamland.”

“Seriously?” Pit beamed with the revelation, “That’s so cool! And fitting! I wonder if those who named it also had the same thought?”

Ophelia quietly hummed as she watched him talk and question about this world, not sparing a breach for her to properly answer. It was amusing, but it only proved her theory. Pit was still sick, his veins darkening black spreading through half of his body now, but in contrast, he was more active and holding more stamina while awake. Having Samus’s words still carrying heavy on her conscience, she shared the view with the angel.

If only she could tell before, maybe things would have gone easier.

* * *

At the surface, the Waddle Dees were working restlessly. While the mysterious, unknown thread was far from Popstar, Dedede’s paranoia after learning—or rather invading the Halberd and finding out himself—was enough to put the entire castle staff into a panic mode only Dedede closest subordinates were capable of handling. In other words, everyone was under pressure.

The only relatively calm one was Meta Knight, going patient in his waiting for Ophelia to come back from her investigation. So, he watched as the unknown gunship landed next to the airship deck after confirming permission to land safely. Ophelia was there, but background noise spoiled more voices. In a note, he was aware of an individual rescue. It didn't matter, as long as the mission was accomplished. They still had time. He hoped so.

“Oh! She’s finally here!” King Dedede stood by his side with his hammer in hand.

“Just like you.” Meta Knight noted but was promptly ignored by the self-proclaimed ruler, who was eager to welcome the newcomers himself.

The first to come out of the gunship was Ophelia, giving a slight hand wave at them before Pit became visible from the shadows and recoiled next to her cape to protect himself from the sunlight. The wind started to blow as Samus made her appearance. Meta Knight grasped the hilt of his sword at the sight of the armored bounty hunter, but Ophelia signalized at him to stay calm from afar. Meta Knight watched the three come out and be greeted by Dedede in a very amative way, then led out of the deck to have a proper introduction to his kingdom—with Dedede referring to himself in the third person the entire time with the knight soldiers protecting the surroundings and Waddle Dees greeting the new guests and welcoming them to the castle.

Dedede’s Castle was built at the top of a mountain, having the shape of a fortress but still holding high towers with hanging flags and large gates that distinguish from the latter. Going inside, they had to follow a sequence of pointed arrows indicating the way, otherwise, they would have got lost. It was all too grandiose, with the halls being massive big for such small creatures and demonstrating a reflection of the king’s ego, with each having long stained windows with thick curtains closed to let the natural light in, framing the detailed walls and especially the marble statues of Dedede.

The trio was finally settled inside one of the many guest rooms, each served with a plate of strawberry cheesecakes and lemonade. Pit lit up at the drink, large fingers traced the rim of the glass before taking a sip. Pit was sitting on a large sofa, Ophelia next to his in an armchair and Samus was standing up between them. “Hey, guys?”

“You could have taken the armor off.” Ophelia stared up at Samus. “Meta Knight had a bad impression of you because of the armor.”

Pit got curious, “Who?”

“Miss Ophie! You’re back!” Bandana Waddle Dee came inside the room and went to shake the woman's hand. “We were so worried when you gave the call! Are you okay?”

“Oh, yes, I am. Did Triple-D called for you too?” Ophelia let a surprised chuckle when he nodded. “Guess the castle’s been messier since I was gone then.”

“Kind of. But we’re all trying our best!” Bandana exclaimed, turning around to greet the other two. “Hello!”

“Hey,” Pit said, while Samus waved at the little one with two fingers up.

“Nice to meet ‘ya, I'm Bandana Waddle Dee! Hey, you're going to eat that?” He looked down at Ophelia’s cheesecake and hooked on her lap to eat. Pit watched the exchange with a bit of amusement. It felt as if he had just shifted from a world to another, with the moment becoming lighter and the introduction leading to an actual welcoming conversation. Dedede was loud for his health.

The door spread open to reveal a set of cavaliers being led by Meta Knight. Behind him, there was a large table being carried to the center, with wires bolting electricity carrying across the halls until inside. Ophelia was the first to greet the army leader, and she didn't miss his stare at the two guests. Deep, bright yellows watching carefully and holding mainly at Samus, which was unavoidable because of her power armor.

“So, everyone is here.” Meta Knight hummed. “I think we can finally start now.”

* * *

It didn’t take long to escalate.

Not the situation, but Ophelia’s state of mind.

“And what we can conclude with all of this?” King Dedede questioned, rather bored with Meta Knight’s long explanation over the recurring events across the universe but still clenching on his hammer after the infodump.

Turns out Pit’s world was the last of a series of coordinated attacks. Going from planets under the Federation’s watch to complete abandoned zones. The board had shown a holographic simulation of the attacks as the radar could take. It was exactly how she had projected. The same way. Ophelia didn’t like that, because it meant she was right about her suspicions.

It was bad because it meant tragedy was awaiting. Problems, fights, and above all, death. She didn’t want that, at least not there. She wanted to be wrong so bad, to prevent said worst from happening  _ again _ . And it was not because she wanted to stop, but because they didn’t deserve that ending. These creatures were so good at heart, so much more in comparison to her previous meetings in many other journeys regardless of their past rifts. Ophelia knew that it was a mistake to care, but she could not help her nature to act and place her over those who needed the most.

“It means there’s something in common with all these places, something that brought the attention of this Order of Darkness, and that would be the destruction of light, right, Ophelia?” Meta Knight said, and all eyes turned to her to see her answer. Still a little dazed, she tried to recap the info and managed to nod. “Well, then. The radar indicates they manage to move heavy masses at an incredible speed for the shortest time available, almost invisible to the eye.”

“Hold up,” Samus interjected. She had already taken off her helmet to discuss the situation better but every time she spoke up the same gasps could be heard from the corner. She took a deep breath before keep going, “Are you implying these joints move faster than light?”

“Yes, I am/he is.” Both Meta Knight and Ophelia said at the same time.

“But aren’t they trying to end light? What do all these places have in common with Skyworld to be attacked?” This time Pit was the one to ask. He could not read what was being typed at the hologram but he could understand graphic figures, and for all, he knew the basics. Meta Knight frowned behind the mask and Ophelia paled. The angel hissed before having a coughing fit, tasting the metallic from his throat. “It just doesn’t add up.”

“The kid has a point!” King Dedede exclaimed from where he was standing, “We have the map, we have the instructions, but we don’t have a reason. Most of these places weren’t even known before they were attacked, what could have brought the attention?”

“It’s because each of these worlds was directly blessed by gods of light. Pit’s world had a goddess of light. It was her literal title! Ophelia started to rant. They were going to find out anyway, so better finding with someone working for good. “The universe is too big for a measure, but it has an end, and where it ends, another starts. But that’s not the point. The point is, light is omnipresent, and the Order of Darkness wants to bleach its presence by going world by world, starting for the ones where light is the strongest link. Popstar, for example, is safe for a few more planets, but soon they’ll be here too.”

“And how do you know so much about their plans, Ophelia?” She knew Pit didn’t mean it, but the question was enough to take all her thoughts off the rails.

“Because I was there,” She confessed. “The first planets, I had to help them before being able to escape. I know how they’ll work because I was there to see the plans! I was almost-” She didn’t finish the sentence, just spinning her heels instead and heading to the outside with a low head.

“Wait, Ophe-” Pit got up from his seat and tried to reach for her, but instead the angel collapsed on the ground in a sequence of spasms. Samus came to his aid, while the rest stood in silence digesting the new information.

“Does that mean she is-?” King Dedede was interrupted midsentence by Meta Knight. He knew exactly what was going to be said and he just rather  **not** .

Samus, on the other side, stepped away from the commotion and decided to follow the woman to the massive balcony accessible by the massive windows of the room she ran to.

The breeze whistling behind her ears when she closed the window doors was cold and shivery. Dark clouds could be seen at the everlasting horizon. Ophelia was leaning at the edge of the balconing, shifting her feet as she noticed she was no longer alone. Samus’s lips twitched with words ready to come out in a spat, but she found herself stuck. Samus was not used to speak as she does most of the action, but this time she was at a loss. How to comfort someone who seems to know the enemy  _ too _ well? It was clear Ophelia had her regrets and didn’t want this to happen in the first place, her uncertainty spoke for mountains but, it was so weird.

This woman, the creatures. Pit. The angel was an incognito to her because, from the first time she lied her eyes on him, she knew something was off, oddly familiar to her likes. She felt the strange urge to protect the small guy, even with the undeniable end that awaited him because of the curse. Her gaze fell to her open hand, where a green leaf slowly landed. Why she was feeling this way for someone she’d just met? Memories of a golden sea and pink tainted skies confusing her. She didn’t know how she was even thinking, and yet she was.

“Samus,” the woman stared at her, at least, revealing a pair of reddish eyes glimmering in unshed tears. Samus stared at her, realizing they were in front of each other now and while full armored, she had no helmet to hide her reactions. “I’m sorry.”

“…It’s alright.” It wasn’t, really, but she was not going to put the woman in even bigger despair. And because she had nothing more to say. Aran realized her thoughts were too muddled to even try. Was this… Was this a lost battle?

“It’s not. I know it’s not because it’s going to happen again,” Ophelia said, and Samus could only gaze down at her and listen in silence. “I lived in one of those planets, in an invisible kingdom. I was captured as a child and trained to become one of them. Their goal was to rewind my memories and become one with Dharkon. You don’t know, but I do well. I resisted well enough to become aware of my surroundings but also complying with their orders. It took years for me to finally break free, and now I keep seeing it happen again, and I don’t want this to happen again-”

Ophelia tilted her head down and covered her face with her hands, weeping softly without caring for her composure. But all Samus could hear was Dharkon. A name she had never heard before, and yet she felt as if Ophelia had just stabbed her chest with a sharp blade by just saying the name.

Why?

“Oh, but this is too cute! Why don’t you two just kiss already?” a new voice invaded the enclosure, shining bright in purple. “Wait, I think I just ruined the moment? If so, that’s even better.”

Samus was quick to grab Ophelia and jump back to the room, where everything was already going to chaos. Pit was unconscious, Meta Knight was on the verge of exploding, and surprisingly King Dedede was the only one to move and notice the commotion outside that led him to reach for the door and be promptly crushed by the Power Suit.

“Ow, my back!” he shouted.

Shattered glass spread across the floor as the wind blew the curtains away, allowing everyone present to the dark iron spaceship emerging from the clouds and reveal Vulture hanging at the ship’s ledge. Vulture pointed her silver skull scythe at them with a large beam of energy charging at the tip waiting for a target. At the same time, a set of cannons from the ship itself came out and were positioned for each head. Meta Knight urged the standing troop to move, and the Waddle Dees waddled around Pit in an attempt to wait up the fallen angel. Both sides were now pointing at each other with massive power, and Samus was just starting to recover her notion when she heard the faint whisper from below.

“They want him,” Ophelia said, looking at Samus with one open eye. “Pit.”

“Wh….” Samus frowned. It didn’t make sense—if Ophelia was the one linked to the Order, why would they go after the kid? That, unless…

“He’s… The only one left.”


End file.
